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Culture Night in Reykjavik (August 18, 2012)

I'll be traveling to Iceland in August. The annual Culture Night festivities, along with the Reykjavik Marathon, will occur on the Saturday I'm there. Does anyone have any experience with Culture Night in Reykjavik? Will I feel out of place attending events as a solo traveler?

I was also thinking about participating in the 3K event that's associated with the marathon: good idea or no?

We were in Iceland around about this time, and it seemed to be an excuse for everyone under 25 to get plastered. How they afforded it I don't know because alcohol is prohibitively expensive, but beer flowed like water.

I don't think Culture Night had anything to do with it annhig, I've been to Iceland a few times and it was the same on Friday and Saturday nights whenever I've been there!

It's basically what everyone under a certain age does every weekend. It even has a name 'rundtur' (doubt I've spelt that right - but it basically means a giant pub crawl) and according to the locals I spoke to when I was there it happens every weekend.

The way they can afford it, is to start drinking at home and once they're lubricated enough to not think about the prices, head out to the bars. Also, you can take drinks from one bar to another.

I never learned the Icelandic for "can I have a plastic cup please" but lots of people would drink half their drink (men and women) then get the remainder decanted into a plastic cup by the bar staff and move on to the next place. There was something quite odd about seeing stunning, Icelandic women supping wine from plastic cups in the street, but it certainly added to the atmosphere.

Regarding the OP's query about the 3K event, I'd say go for it. I personally couldn't imagine anything much worse to do when I'm on holiday, but if you want to, I imagine it'd be a great way to see Reykjavik and you'll no doubt meet some like-minded folks whilst doing it...

I don't think Culture Night had anything to do with it annhig, I've been to Iceland a few times and it was the same on Friday and Saturday nights whenever I've been there! >>

I believe you Jay, but it did happen to be some sort of cultural holiday when we were there, and all the kids were heading for the Westerman islands for a big p...s up - those little planes were load to the gunnels with booze.

Thanks for your replies. I understand that the partying is a consistent feature of weekend evenings. This is a day/night with specific cultural activities such as poetry readings, dramatic re-enactments, etc. Drinking probably accompanies or follows these events. I'm not much of a drinker even when alcohol is cheap, so I'll keep an eye on the crowds and head back to my hotel when things get too silly.

A 3K is less than 2 miles, and I thought it would be fun to have the T-shirt if nothing else.

Thanks to you both for the information on Culture Night, I wasn't aware of it previously and may now plan my next to trip to Iceland to coincide with this.

HRHDHD - Things start getting silly from about 1 -2am, so you can easily avoid it if you want to. I think the t-shirt from the 3K would definitely make an interesting souvenir. Hope you enjoy your trip.